All Night Long 3 - Final Atrocity

All Night Long 3 - Final Atrocity

Kasuya Matsumura's 'All Night Long' trilogy comes to a close with the (not surprisingly) titled 'Final Atrocity'. The last mentally draining film in the series of bleak and harrowing ultra violent studies of the darker side of the human psyche.

Whereas previously the earlier two films in the series looked at the gang mentality of life, 'Final Atrocity' takes a cold and clinical look at the individual - in particular here, a young school boy who develops an unhealthy obsession for a local female that develops in to what is more commonly known here in the UK as a 'stalker', but the film (as with the others) delves deep into the detail of not only the breakdown in psyche but the actions that follows on route to the inevitable carnage that follows.

What starts as a minor interest by our (again bespectacled) school boy lead in said female soon builds into an obsession with scouring her rubbish for used tights, bloodied panty pads and knickers as he builds his personal collection of dubiously erotic articles. Surrounded by a collection of similarly depraved peers (made up of casual rapists and sexually charged elders), our lead becomes increasingly deranged and dangerously obsessive to the point of no return when the inevitable carnage ensues in yet another catalogue of depraved violence that tackles the viewers senses one final time.

Not the best in the series (part 2 'Atrocity' takes that prize), but like its predecessors 'Final Atrocity' is both harrowing and brutal and once again a testament to the power of Matsumura in his role as film maker. Like the others in the trilogy also, the film portrays an ensemble of dislikeable characters that have a complete disregard to human life and the effect they're actions have upon it. And it is this theme of these movies that will have you thinking about them long after the final credits have rolled. Never mind the catalogue of violence and depravity, what about the powerful underlying messages that the films deliver and congratulations are due big time to director Matsumura (and his casts) for what they have delivered - in what will be one of the most underrated and significant series of films to join the ranks of the genre scene in quite some time.

The Region 0 PAL disc from Japan Shock is (yet again) sparse on the content front. The original fullscreen ratio image is solid enough with clear sharp Japanese audio and optional English and Dutch subtitles. Like the rest of the series, extras wise all you get is a nicely put together stills slide show, which is fine as (as ever) its the film we're here for and this quite some movie!

Sure, by the time I had reached the end of this third part in the series I was somewhat numb from it all, but it still had a helluva impact that should impress most also. A very strong movie (for those with a similarly strong stomach) but as part of the viewing experience of the complete trilogy (which is a must) will be an engrossing experience for many of SGM's readers. Check 'em out!

Review by Alan Simpson


 
Directed by Kasuya Matsumura
Released by Japan Shock
Region '0' PAL
Ratio - Fullscreen
Audio - Japanese stereo
Subtitles - Optional English & Dutch
Running time : approx 83 mins
Extras :
Slide show
Back